Severus's Secret
by The Awesomeness of Moosey
Summary: It's a Lily & Severus Fanfic that popped into my head. Severus sends Lily a mysterious note which brings her a memory she'll never forget. The chapters are short, I know, but I'm trying to do several stories at once, so I'm kinda busy.
1. The Note

Lily sat in the dining hall, friendly conversations surrounding her; but she was oblivious to them. She absently reached for her goblet of cider when a paper airplane flew down, right on top of her pudding.

She snatched the paper airplane and ran out of the hall, flew up the moving staircases, nearly shouted the password to the portrait of the Fat Lady, and scrambled through the small tunnel.

When she emerged, she was relieved to see that she was the only person in the Gryffindor Common Room. She pulled out the note frantically, while settling down onto an armchair. The writing was quick and small, and a bit blurred:

Meet me by the Forbidden Forest at 12:30 

Lily folded up the letter and threw it in the measly fire. She wanted to swear, but she contained herself as three-second year boys climbed out of the portrait hole. She hated him. She hated Severus.

He had called her a mudblood, and was hanging out with dangerous Slytherins. But she was also scared for him. Maybe if he had been sorted into Gryffindor things wouldn't be so messed up. Curiosity slowly overlapped her anger and fear. Should she go to the Forbidden Forest? What if Severus was just trying to fix their friendship? Or what if he was just going to scorn her with a sharp tongue, and blame her for everything, declaring that she should apologize?  
She sighed heavily, scared of what to do. She finally decided to go down to the Forbidden Forest, and hear what Severus had to say. If he started saying rubbish she'd walk away, telling him their friendship was over. Or was it over already? She wasn't sure of anything at the moment.


	2. Midnight Wanderings

Lily was afraid to do anything, to say anything, until what Severus had to show her was over. She stayed curled up in the cozy armchair, although with all the emotions that were nearly suffocating her, it felt stiff and uncomfortable.

When it was midnight, she slipped out of the chair, rugged and still in her school robes. She crawled quietly through the portrait hole and walked briskly down the halls.

Most of the portraits were asleep, and all of the ghosts were out of sight, except for one.

Nearly Headless Nick drifted down the hall, humming a tune Lily couldn't quite catch. Lily dove behind a suit of armor, her green eyes shining with troubled uncertainty.

Nick stopped and talked pleasantly to the Grey Lady, and then walked her way. Lily was leaning so far forward that the suit of armor tipped forward and fell to the ground with a shattering crash that echoed around the halls.

Nick raised his eyebrows and floated towards her, surprise etched on his ghostly face.

"Lily? What are you doing here?"

Lily sat up self-consciously and brushed herself off.

"I-I was, er, going to the bathroom." Lily said uncertainly.

"At midnight?" Nick asked incredulously. "Well, it's none of my business what time you go to the bathroom. Good night Miss Evans."

Nick seemed to be waiting for her to leave, so Lily picked up her robes and scrambled to the nearest bathroom, before taking a detour to the Entrance Hall.


	3. Cautious Thoughts

Lily gently closed the great doors behind her, wincing as it made a large, colliding screech. For a moment she stood still with fear, wondering whether the caretaker had heard.

After what felt like maybe hours, but was really only minutes, she took a deep breath and continued her brisk walk down the Hogwarts school grounds.

The lights inside the cabin of the Hogwarts's Groundskeeper were on, and she made a sharp detour around the greenhouses so she wouldn't be seen.

As the wind picked up, it whipped her robes about and chilled her; she wished that she could have warm something warmer. She tied her auburn hair up quickly, and then continued to walk the grounds as cautiously as she could.

A slim figure stood by the forest, and even though Lily couldn't see him properly enough, she knew that it had to be Severus. She pursed her lips together in an irritated scowl; what ever Severus had to show her, it had better be worth it.


	4. Something Magical

Severus stood waiting, leaning against a twisted tree. His hands were in his pockets, but he removed them when he spotted Lily making her way down the hill.

Severus stared steadily at Lily, letting a small smile spread on his face. Her auburn hair made her look lively and bright, reminding Severus of the times she would smile at him.

Suddenly Severus's smile was swept away and replaced with guiltiness and remorse. He wished so much that he hadn't called her a mud-blood, or argued with her about the people they hung out with.

Severus's remorse was then replaced by boiling jealousy and hate for that James Potter. He thought he was king, did he? Seeker of the quidditch team and always getting in laughable trouble?

Severus's scowl lessened as Lily walked closer. Her green eyes were trying to hide confusion and regrets. Severus spoke up above the howling wind, although his tone was of that of a whisper.

"Do you want to see something magical, Lily?"


	5. Unicorn Melody

Lily froze, her heart thundering in her chest. She kneaded her palms together. _Why am I freaking out? There's nothing magical in the woods._

Severus saw her stiffen, and he frowned. _What's he thinking? Does he think that a creep can just make up for everything with a swish of his wand?_

"Severus," She snorted, as if she couldn't care less. "I see magic every day. I'm a witch; remember? I'm not a stupid muggle school girl."

"But this isn't something you usually see." Severus said so quietly that her skin crawled and her stomach twisted unpleasantly. Her curiosity was slowly overlapping her anger.

"Where is it then?" Lily asked, although she had already guessed where.

"In there, of course." Severus said, pointing into the Forbidden Forest.

"No way." Lily said.

"Scared?" He asked. Lily was about to attack him with a vicious retort, and then realized that he wasn't teasing her, he was just asking kindly.

"No." Lily lied. She had heard things about the forest that gave her goosebumps.

"Then come on." Severus said, his thin mouth curved into a laughing smile.

_He wouldn't lead me somewhere dangerous. _She curled her fingers into a tight fist. _But I've got to trust him; he's my friend._ She opened her fingers and then grabbed Severus's outstretched hand.

He strode forward at a quick pace, and Lily had to walk a fierce trot to keep up with him.

"Severus? Can't we go slower?" _We might wake anything that's lurking in here if we continue at this march._

"No, we can't." Severus said. "They only come after starlight and before dawn."

_What comes?_ "Tell me more." She insisted. But he remained quiet.

The continued at that same pace for a while. The shadows whispering in the trees made Lily's mind scream in fear, but her heart told her to go on.

"Severus, this better be worth it-" She said when they walked into a moonlit clearing.

"We're here." He said suddenly.

Lily glanced around excitedly. There was nothing. The clearing was empty. A autumn leaf was picked up by the cold whipping wind and was tossed out of the clearing. There wasn't anything!

"Severus!" Lily said furiously. "You drag me here in the middle of the night-"

"Shush." Severus said with a sharp glance at her. "Up here."

He skillfully climbed up a nearby oak tree, his robes flapping in the restless wind.

"You want me to climb a tree?!" Lily said, her eyes widening. "Okay, I've been good so far, but this is it. I am not climbing a stupid tree!"

Suddenly Severus jerked on her arm and and she was reluctantly pulled up the tree. Sitting beside him grumpily, her arms folded, she pulled her cloak around her and was shivering.

"Cold?" Severus said, pulling off his own cloak, motioning to put it around her shoulders.

"No, thank you." Lily said coolly, shrugging his cloak away, even though she was bitterly freezing.

"Well then, be quiet for a second."

Lily clamped her mouth shut before she could say something rude.

Severus pulled out something from his pocket that glistened in the moonlight.

Lily sat up straighter. "What's that?"

Severus lifted a single finger to his mouth, motioning for her to be quiet.

He raised the object to his mouth. Now Lily saw! It was a slim flute, and it looked as though it had been whittled by hand.

Curling his thin fingers around the flute gently, he began to play. Soft, swaying music flowed with the wind, and making it stop altogether, as though the breezes were listening as well.

Lily wondered why they had walked to the heart of the forest, at midnight, so that Severus could play her a song. Vile anger was boiling in her throat, but the music cooled it, like molten lava hardening.

Severus began playing faster and higher, as though he had found the right tune.

A rustle in the bushes made Lily shift her head, and her eyes shined over.

"Severus…" She said softly.

A slim, snow white unicorn had emerged from the trees.

It tossed it's silvery mane and raised it's horn to the moon.

"Severus…how did you know?"

_How did you know that I love unicorns?_

Severus didn't reply, but Lily swore she saw him smile.

Another unicorn appeared, this one was more grayish silver than white. And then to small golden ones came, and more.

Severus continued playing, his eyes dancing.

The unicorns gathered beneath the trees, and they were even more beautiful up close. One older unicorn reached up and nuzzled Lily's legs like a cat would.

Severus's song slowly came to an end, but the unicorns were still dazed. When the climbed down from the tree, the unicorns didn't run away, but watched them with curious eyes.

As they walked back to the castle, Lily held Severus's hand._ Thank you._


End file.
